The poems of the Andalusian Sufi, Abu’l-Hasan Shushtari (d. 1269) parallel and perhaps indirectly influenced some of my favorite Flamenco lyrics. Compare this pair of songs:
Your love for me is not a fantasy
However much they forbid that I love you,
like a jib to the water I will resist.
Only your tender love I would have for company
I wanted to give you more and more I’d give you,
Because I know that without you I won’t live,
because wherever you are I will follow,
that’s why I love you and dream of you.
Your love for me is not fantasy,
the memory hurts me every day,
I am of your love that abandons me,
and loved me and wanted me.
You and I on the blanket,
you and I under the moon,
your dark eyes were glistening
reflecting the tenderness
A love looks strong,
my heart,
if my eyes didn’t look at you
every day
You were something that goes and never comes
and clear was your farewell and clear was my sorrow.
Without your love, I only love the earth
without your love, two minutes is one day,
that’s why I love you and you take my life.
I would like to hear the voice of the wind
that brings the sighs that you give,
your sorrows are like mine,
like the waves of the ocean
Your love for me is not fantasy,
the memory hurts me every day,
I am of your love that abandons me,
and loved me and wanted me
Tu amor para mi no es fantasia
Por más que a mí me quiten que te quiera
como el foque al agua remetiera
sólo tu amor tendré por compañera
que más te quise dar y más te diera,
Porque sé que sin ti yo no vivo,
porque donde tú estés te persigo,
por eso te quiero y sueño contigo.
Tu amor para mí no es fantasía,
me duele el recuerdo cada día,
soy de tu querer que me abandona,
y me quería y me quería.
Tú y yo sobre la manta,
tú y yo bajo la luna,
brillaban tus ojos negros
reflejando la ternura.
Fuerte mira un amor,
sentrañas mías,
si no te vieran mis ojos
todos los días.
Fuiste algo que pasa y nunca llega
y claro fue tu adiós y clara mi pena.
Sin tu amor sólo a la tierra quiero
sin tu amor dos minutos es un día,
por eso te quiero y me quitas la vía.
Quisiera escuchar la voz del viento
que trae los suspiros que tú das,
tus penas son como las mías,
como la oleá del mar.
Tu amor para mí no es fantasía,
me duele el recuerdo cada día,
soy de tu querer que me abandona,
y me quería y me quería.
Shustari:
My neglect of you is reprehensible, your love is obligatory
my longing is everlasting, and union is elusive
On the tablet of my heart, your love has been marked
my tears are the ink, and beauty is the writer
The reader of my thoughts constantly recites
lessons on the signs of the beautiful one
My gaze wanders in the heaven of your beauty
its penetrating star pierces my mind
Talk about others, listening to that is forbidden
for all of me is stolen and your beauty is the thief
They said to me: repent of loving the one you love
so I replied: I repent of my neglect
The torments of love are sweet for every lover
even if, for another, they are hard and never-ending
Translation modified from: L.M. Alvarez. Abu’l-Hasan Shushtari: Songs of Love and Devotion. p. 55
Original:
سُلُوِّيَ مكروهٌ وحُبكَ واجبٌ وشوقِي مقيمٌ والتَّواصلُ غائبُ
وفي لوح قلبي من وِدَادكِ أسطرٌ وَدمعي مِدادٌ مثل ما الحسن كاتبُ
وقارىء فكري لْلمحَاسِن تالياً على دَرْس آيات الجمالِ يواظبُ
أُنَزِّهُ طَرفي في سماء جَمالكمْ لِثاقب ذِهني نَجمُها هو ثاقبُ
حَديثُ سواكَ السمع عنهُ محَّرمٌ فَكُلِّيَ مسلوبٌ وحسنكَ سالبُ
يقولونَ لي تبْ عن هوى من تُحبُّهُ فقلتُ عن السلوان إِنِّيَ تائبُ
عَذابُ الهوى عذبٌ على كل عَاشِق وإِن كان عندَ الغير صعبٌ وواصبُ
